page_title: Link via an Ambassador Container
page_description: Using the Ambassador pattern to abstract (network) services
page_keywords: Examples, Usage, links, docker, documentation, examples, names, name, container naming

# Link via an Ambassador Container

## Introduction

Rather than hardcoding network links between a service consumer and
provider, Docker encourages service portability.

eg, instead of

    (consumer) --> (redis)

requiring you to restart the `consumer` to attach it
to a different `redis` service, you can add
ambassadors

    (consumer) --> (redis-ambassador) --> (redis)

    or

    (consumer) --> (redis-ambassador) ---network---> (redis-ambassador) --> (redis)

When you need to rewire your consumer to talk to a different redis
server, you can just restart the `redis-ambassador`
container that the consumer is connected to.

This pattern also allows you to transparently move the redis server to a
different docker host from the consumer.

Using the `svendowideit/ambassador` container, the
link wiring is controlled entirely from the `docker run`
parameters.

## Two host Example

Start actual redis server on one Docker host

    big-server $ docker run -d -name redis crosbymichael/redis

Then add an ambassador linked to the redis server, mapping a port to the
outside world

    big-server $ docker run -d -link redis:redis -name redis_ambassador -p 6379:6379 svendowideit/ambassador

On the other host, you can set up another ambassador setting environment
variables for each remote port we want to proxy to the
`big-server`

    client-server $ docker run -d -name redis_ambassador -expose 6379 -e REDIS_PORT_6379_TCP=tcp://192.168.1.52:6379 svendowideit/ambassador

Then on the `client-server` host, you can use a
redis client container to talk to the remote redis server, just by
linking to the local redis ambassador.

    client-server $ docker run -i -t -rm -link redis_ambassador:redis relateiq/redis-cli
    redis 172.17.0.160:6379> ping
    PONG

## How it works

The following example shows what the `svendowideit/ambassador`
container does automatically (with a tiny amount of
`sed`)

On the docker host (192.168.1.52) that redis will run on:

    # start actual redis server
    $ docker run -d -name redis crosbymichael/redis

    # get a redis-cli container for connection testing
    $ docker pull relateiq/redis-cli

    # test the redis server by talking to it directly
    $ docker run -t -i -rm -link redis:redis relateiq/redis-cli
    redis 172.17.0.136:6379> ping
    PONG
    ^D

    # add redis ambassador
    $ docker run -t -i -link redis:redis -name redis_ambassador -p 6379:6379 busybox sh

in the redis\_ambassador container, you can see the linked redis
containers’s env

    $ env
    REDIS_PORT=tcp://172.17.0.136:6379
    REDIS_PORT_6379_TCP_ADDR=172.17.0.136
    REDIS_NAME=/redis_ambassador/redis
    HOSTNAME=19d7adf4705e
    REDIS_PORT_6379_TCP_PORT=6379
    HOME=/
    REDIS_PORT_6379_TCP_PROTO=tcp
    container=lxc
    REDIS_PORT_6379_TCP=tcp://172.17.0.136:6379
    TERM=xterm
    PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
    PWD=/

This environment is used by the ambassador socat script to expose redis
to the world (via the -p 6379:6379 port mapping)

    $ docker rm redis_ambassador
    $ sudo ./contrib/mkimage-unittest.sh
    $ docker run -t -i -link redis:redis -name redis_ambassador -p 6379:6379 docker-ut sh

    $ socat TCP4-LISTEN:6379,fork,reuseaddr TCP4:172.17.0.136:6379

then ping the redis server via the ambassador

Now goto a different server

    $ sudo ./contrib/mkimage-unittest.sh
    $ docker run -t -i  -expose 6379 -name redis_ambassador docker-ut sh

    $ socat TCP4-LISTEN:6379,fork,reuseaddr TCP4:192.168.1.52:6379

and get the redis-cli image so we can talk over the ambassador bridge

    $ docker pull relateiq/redis-cli
    $ docker run -i -t -rm -link redis_ambassador:redis relateiq/redis-cli
    redis 172.17.0.160:6379> ping
    PONG

## The svendowideit/ambassador Dockerfile

The `svendowideit/ambassador` image is a small
busybox image with `socat` built in. When you start
the container, it uses a small `sed` script to parse
out the (possibly multiple) link environment variables to set up the
port forwarding. On the remote host, you need to set the variable using
the `-e` command line option.

`--expose 1234 -e REDIS_PORT_1234_TCP=tcp://192.168.1.52:6379`
will forward the local `1234` port to the
remote IP and port - in this case `192.168.1.52:6379`.

    #
    #
    # first you need to build the docker-ut image
    # using ./contrib/mkimage-unittest.sh
    # then
    #   docker build -t SvenDowideit/ambassador .
    #   docker tag SvenDowideit/ambassador ambassador
    # then to run it (on the host that has the real backend on it)
    #   docker run -t -i -link redis:redis -name redis_ambassador -p 6379:6379 ambassador
    # on the remote host, you can set up another ambassador
    #    docker run -t -i -name redis_ambassador -expose 6379 sh

    FROM    docker-ut
    MAINTAINER      SvenDowideit@home.org.au


    CMD     env | grep _TCP= | sed 's/.*_PORT_\([0-9]*\)_TCP=tcp:\/\/\(.*\):\(.*\)/socat TCP4-LISTEN:\1,fork,reuseaddr TCP4:\2:\3 \&/'  | sh && top